Neurogenic regulation of bone growth and bone degradation

Abstract

This disclosure relates to methods for promoting bone formation or reducing bone destruction. This disclosure also relates to methods for promoting the recruitment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to a local site of injury or surgical intervention in bone to promote healing. In addition, this disclosure relates to methods for reducing or preventing mineral formation or bone growth, or reducing bone mass. The methods disclosed herein are useful for treating conditions such as osteopetrosis or osteoradionecrosis.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 953,475, filed Mar. 14, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND ART[0002]Bone formation and degradation are tightly regulated by growth factor signaling between osteoblasts that are responsible for bone formation and osteoclasts that are responsible for bone re-absorption. Coupling bone formation by osteoblasts with degradation by osteoclasts has recently become a topic of intense study; with the list of growth factors identified as coupling factors expanding. Coupling bone formation with bone re-absorption requires the recruitment of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in parallel with the recruitment of their respective progenitor cells. Osteoblasts derive from mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) while osteoclasts derive from monocytes that are a part of the myeloid-lineage; however, it remains unknown how MSC or monocytes ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a method for reducing or stopping mineral formation and bone growth, or reducing bone mass. This is accomplished by administering a specific polypeptide ligand called RGMb or slit3. The technical effect of this method is that it can help prevent the formation of minerals and bones in certain parts of the body, which can cause a variety of issues like pain and limited mobility.

Problems solved by technology

Alternatively, the introduction of autograph with an implant or the use of devitalized bone tissue graft has been employed in concert with the material properties of an implant as a means of increasing osteo-integration; however, these approaches have often been problematic.

Generating bone as an adjuvant therapeutic approach employed during orthopedic trauma procedures or during routine spine fusion procedures represents a continuing challenge in orthopedic surgery.

Unfortunately, BMP based therapies intended to generate bone also carry a risk for tumorigenesis in patients who may be undergoing X-radiation therapy or possess nascent undetected tumor.

Further, BMP based therapies cannot be used in patients with active tumor, which is particularly unfortunate since these patients would benefit significantly from therapies that increase bone formation during surgical intervention.

Impaired fracture healing continues to present a significant challenge in orthopedic surgery and bone healing.

The morbidity and cost associated with the treatment of patients developing non-unions can be substantial.

Various options exist to help accelerate bone healing, with unproven efficacy.

Iliac crest bone graft is still considered to be the gold standard but has significant issues related to harvest site co-morbidity.

Growth factor based therapies that include platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) has shown initial success in cell culture studies; however, their efficacy remains unproven in clinical application.

However, there are risks associated with the use of BMP that include increased infection, increased risk of tumor growth, and an increased risk of local osteolysis.

Many of the risks associated with treatments that include BMP also preclude the use of BMP for patients with other pathologies.

The therapeutic ability to increase bone formation, as an adjuvant during orthopedic surgery, while not increasing the potential for tumor growth is currently a limitation of commercially available biologics, in treating complex orthopedic problems such as spine fusion, fracture healing and the management of fracture non-unions.

However, autogenous harvested bone graft, used as the gold standard to achieve bone formation, has risks of infection and donor site pain.

Other allogenic bone graft substitutes have not shown similar efficacy when used singularly.

The same limitations exist for spine surgery when these are used during fusions.

Hence, biologics such as PDGF, VEGF and BMP are used to increase rates of healing or fusion, and their application adds to the cost of treatment.

However, these biologic therapies stimulate proliferation during development in a range of cell phenotypes, which presents an inherent and unacceptable oncologic risk.

De-mineralized bone matrix and calcium phosphate substitutes have not shown high efficacy at accelerated bone healing and also have significant cost associated with them due to production costs.

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